Mouthpiece for a snorkel

ABSTRACT

An improved mouthpiece for a snorkel wherein the mouthpiece comprises a curved flap of flexible material having an arc length of 3 1/2 to 4 1/4 inches and has a smooth concave surface so that the same may be retained in the mouth of a diver without necessity of the diver exerting a gripping force on the mouthpiece with his teeth.

United States Patent 1191 [111 3,814,090 Hill June 4, 1974 [54] MOUTHPIECE FOR A SNORKEL 1,845,263 2/1932 Girden 128/145 A [75] n e or: Ja s E. Bremerton wash- 3,603,306 9/1971 Bonln 128/145 A [73] Assignee: Imperial Manufacturing Co., Primary Examiner-Richard A. Gaudet Bremerton, Wash. Assistant ExaminerHenry J. Recla Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Hofgren, Wegner, Allen, [22] Filed. July 25, 1972 stenman & Mccord [21] Appl. No.: 274,963

[57] ABSTRACT [52] US. Cl 128/145 A An improved mouthpiece for a snorkel wherein the [51] Int. Cl A63b 7/00 mouthpiece comprises a curved flap of flexible mate- [58] Field of Search 128/145 A, 145 R, 147, rial having an arc length of 3 /2 to 4% inches and has :1

128/140, 208, 136, 139 smooth concave surface so that the same may be retained in the mouth of a diver without necessity of the [56] References Cited diver exerting a gripping force on the mouthpiece with UNITED STATES PATENTS teem 316,636 4/1885 2 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures Miles 128/208 1 MOUTHPIECE FOR A SNORKEL,

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to snorkels and, more specifically, to Snorkels having improved mouthpieces.

The upsurge in the popularity of a variety of sports over the last few years has included an upsurge in the popularity of skin diving as well. Typically, a skin diver will include with his equipment a snorkel which is a relatively short tube including a curved portion having a mouthpiece thereon. The mouthpiece is slipped in the mouth and the opposite end of the tube will extend above the surface allowing the skin diver to swim along the surface with his face submerged while breathing through the snorkel.

Typically, snorkel mouthpieces include a curved flap which is received between the lips and the teeth of the user. In addition, from the concave surface of the mouthpiece, there are generally provided a pair of T- shaped lugs which extend between the upper and lower sets of teeth of the wearer and upon which the wearer clamps his teeth for the purpose of retaining the mouthpiece.

While such prior art structures serve their intended purpose of permitting the wearer to breathe while maintaining his face under water, after the skin diver has worn such a snorkel continuously over aperiod of time, an annoying fatigue of the jaw muscles sets in due to continued clamping force that must be exerted by the jaws on the mouthpiece to retain the same in the mouth of the wearer.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is the principal object of the invention to provide a new and improved mouthpiece for snorkels. More specifically, it is an object of the invention to provide such a snorkel assembly wherein the mouthpiece is easily and simply retained in the mouth of the user without requiring the user to exert a clamping force thereon with the jaw.

The exemplary embodiment of the invention achieves the foregoing object in a structure including an elongated tube having a generally straight portion and a curved portion with a mouthpiece opening upwardly on the latter. The mouthpiece consists of a curved flap of material which, according to the preferred embodiment, has an arc length in the range of 3% to 4% inches and an optimum arc length of 378 inches. The concave surface of the mouthpiece is smooth, there being no lugs or the like to be gripped between teeth thereon by reason of the arc length of the mouthpiece being sufficiently long so as to be comfortably retained in the mouth without the need for such lugs.

Preferably, the radius of the curved flap is approximately 2 inches while the ends of the flap extending away from the curved portion of the tube to which the mouthpiece is connected have a length in the range of 1% to 1% inches.

It is also preferred that the curved portion of the snorkel be formed of a soft rubber-like material and that the inner side of the outer surface be relatively flat so as to avoid annoying point contact with facial bones of the wearer.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent from the following specification taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

FIG. I is a perspective view of a snorkel made according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken approximately along the line 22 of FIG. 1 and drawn generally to full scale;

FIG. 3 is a vertical section taken approximately along the line 3-3 of FIG. 2 and, again, is drawn approximately to full scale; and

FIG. 4 is a vertical section taken approximately along the line 44 of FIG. 3 and, again, is drawn approximately to full scale.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT An exemplary embodiment of a snorkel made according to the invention is illustrated in FIG. 1 and is seen to be comprised of a tube, generally designated 10 and a mouthpiece, generally designated 12. The tube 10 includes a first, relatively straight section 14 which may be formed of any suitable material, normally a corrosion resistant material such as stiff plastic. If desired, a conventional retaining strap 16 may be provided on the tube 14 and, by reason of its stiffness, the same will not collapse eitherby reason of the resiliency of the retaining strap 16 or possibly the retaining strap for a face mask if that is used for retaining purposes.

The second section of the tube 10 is designated 18 and is curved. According to the preferred embodiment of the invention, the curved section 18 is formed of a relatively soft material, again, corrosion resistant and may be natural or synthetic rubber.

The two sections 14 and 18 define a J-shaped tube and the tip of the curved section 18 is in fluid communication with the mouthpiece as may be seen in FIGS. 3 and 4 by reason of a connecting neck 20 having an elongated opening 22 therein extending to the interior surface of the mouthpiece 12.

According to the preferred embodiment, the mouthpiece 12 is formed integrally with the curved tube section 18 and comprises a curved flap 24 having the opening 22 emerging in the center thereof. The concave surface 26 of the curved flap 24 is smooth, i.e., free from projections or lugs of sufficient size and length to be gripped between the teeth.

The neck 20, as best viewed in FIG. 4, includes recesses 28 extending along two sides thereof in a direction generally parallel to the length of the flap 24. It will be appreciated that the presence of the recesses 28 allow the lips of a user to substantially close and thereby provide comfort during use.

As mentioned previously, the inventive snorkel of the invention and particularly the mouthpiece thereof is particularly suited for retention by a wearer without requiring the wearer to exert gripping force with the jaws which, after a period of time, becomes annoying due to fatigue of the jaw muscles. To this end, the flap 24 has a substantially longer arc length than prior art structures. According to the preferred embodiment, the arc length from a point 30 to a point 32 is in the range of 3 /2 to 4% inches with an optimum arc length of 3 /8 inches. In addition, the ends of the flap extending from the neck 20 are such that the length of the ends (as represented by the distance between points 30 and 34 and 32 and 36) is in the range of l% to 1% inches. Of course, the upper limit of the range could be increased somewhat although this would have the effect of either narrowing the neck which possibly could obstruct the rate of air flow through the snorkel while in use or, in the alternative, increase the arc length of the flap 24 to the point where it becomes uncomfortable.

It has also been found that benefits and advantages of the invention can best be achieved if the radius of the curvature of the flap 24 is approximately 2 inches although, again, there may be some deviation permitted. Generally, however, it would be more desirable to decrease the radius than to increase it, again, for comfort reasons.

The top to bottom dimension of the flap 22 as viewed in FIG. 2 is not particularly critical to the purposes of the invention. Normally, a more or less conventional dimension of 1% inches will be used.

To further enhance the comfort of the wearer of a snorkel made according to the invention, the inner side of the outer surface of the curved tube portion 18, designated 38, will be made relatively flat as best viewed in FIG. 2. As will be recognized, this surface of the tube will frequently be in abutment with the users face and by reason of the fabrication of the curved portion 18 of soft material and the provision of the flat surface 38, the pressure of the snorkel against facial bones of the wearer will be spread out over a substantial surface and partially be absorbed by the soft material of which the curved tube portion 18 is formed. Thus, the invention also eliminates annoying point pressure contact with facial bones during use.

From the foregoing, it will be appreciated that a snorkel made according to the invention can easily be retained in the mouth of the wearer without resort to the exertion of jaw pressure which can produce annoying fatigue. Moreover, problems of annoying contact with facial bones are minimized by reason of the flat surface and soft material employed in fabricating the curved tube portion 18.

lclaim: I

1. In a snorkel breathing tube including a tubular member having a relatively straight section terminating in an end adapted to be located above the surface of a body of water and a curved portionincluding a flexible mouthpiece opening in fluid communication with the interior of the tube, the improvement in said mouthpiece wherein said mouthpiece comprises a curved flap having a relatively smooth concave surface an arc length in the range of 3 /2 to 4% inches, a radius of approximately 2 inches and extends to both sides of said tube at thepoint of connection thereto a distance in the range of 1 Vs l A inches whereby said mouthpiece maybe easily retained in the mouth of a diver without requiring the diver to grip the same with his teeth.

2. A snorkel according to claim 1 wherein said arc length is approximately 3 /5 inches. 

1. In a snorkel breathing tube including a tubular member having a relatively straight section terminating in an end adapted to be located above the surface of a body of water and a curved portion including a flexible mouthpiece opening in fluid communication with the interior of the tube, the improvement in said mouthpiece wherein said mouthpiece comprises a curved flap having a relatively smooth concave surface an arc length in the range of 3 1/2 to 4 1/4 inches, a radius of approximately 2 inches and extends to both sides of said tube at the point of connection thereto a distance in the range of 1 1/8 - 1 1/4 inches whereby said mouthpiece may be easily retained in the mouth of a diver without requiring the diver to grip the same with his teeth.
 2. A snorkel according to claim 1 wherein said arc length is approximately 3 7/8 inches. 